The Greenland stop was the second trip Pompeo cancelled on what was supposed to be a four-nation tour of Europe

Published May 9, 2019 at 1:06 AM

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, speaks at a joint press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt at the Foreign Office in central London, Wednesday May 8, 2019.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has cancelled a visit to Greenland to return to Washington amid an escalation of tensions with Iran.

Pompeo had been due to wrap up a trip to Europe on Thursday with a stop in Greenland aimed at promoting the Trump administration's Arctic policies. Those policies were criticized earlier this week for not containing the words "climate change" when Pompeo attended an Arctic Council meeting in Finland.

The State Department says that Pompeo will still order a restoration of a permanent U.S. diplomatic presence in Greenland.

The Greenland stop was the second trip Pompeo cancelled on what was supposed to be a four-nation tour of Europe. On Tuesday, he abruptly dropped a trip to Germany to fly to Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi leaders.

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